comickal: angela basset as amanda waller
Angela Bassett Joins WB's 'Green Lantern' | The Wrap:
"ER" star Angela Bassett will play government agent Dr. Amanda Waller in WB's "Green Lantern," reports Variety.
The character is in an important one in the DC Comics universe, having appeared in several TV series including "Smallville," "Batman Beyond" and "Justice League."
The Playlist speculates that Waller "could be used as a potential 'bridge' character, not unlike Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury in the Marvel films, able to link different DC superhero storylines and universes together." If that's the case, then sign me up for more DC movies! [...]
Huh.
I mean ... well ... huh.
OK, here's the thing: in terms of actual talent, Angela Bassett as Amanda Waller is just about pitch perfect casting. She can easily play someone that ferociously effective, that dominating, that terrifying as well as someone who can hide all that menace when the situation calls for it. (Seriously, if Amanda Waller notices you, you should probably start immediately investing in extra absorbent undies, because it's not going to go well for you. Not at all.) And on that level, I'm kind of looking forward to seeing how she plays the character.
It's just ... well, on more that one occasion, as part of the way she lets people know who they're dealing with, Waller has described herself as "that fat black woman". Or words to that effect. Her size is really a core part of the character, in a way that's both surprising, and surprisingly effective. And that aspect will completely go away with Bassett, unless they put her in a fat suit, and I really can't see them doing that.
(For what it's worth, I'm kind of scratching my head and wondering what on earth Waller would be doing in a Green Lantern movie in the first place, especially since I've heard that it's at least partly a Hal Jordan origin movie, and she had no place in that story originally. But that's sort of a side issue.)
Pam Grier is playing Waller in several episodes of Smallville this season. That strikes me as slightly closer to accurate casting -- Grier isn't notably heavy, but she is curvaceous in a way that gets emphasized by the camera. Plus, again, perfectly capable of acting the hell out of that role.
Regardless, it will be interesting to see what Bassett does with the role -- and what the character winds up doing in Jordan's origin story, and how she makes his life miserable. Because she will. She's just that good at being bad.
"ER" star Angela Bassett will play government agent Dr. Amanda Waller in WB's "Green Lantern," reports Variety.
The character is in an important one in the DC Comics universe, having appeared in several TV series including "Smallville," "Batman Beyond" and "Justice League."
The Playlist speculates that Waller "could be used as a potential 'bridge' character, not unlike Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury in the Marvel films, able to link different DC superhero storylines and universes together." If that's the case, then sign me up for more DC movies! [...]
Huh.
I mean ... well ... huh.
OK, here's the thing: in terms of actual talent, Angela Bassett as Amanda Waller is just about pitch perfect casting. She can easily play someone that ferociously effective, that dominating, that terrifying as well as someone who can hide all that menace when the situation calls for it. (Seriously, if Amanda Waller notices you, you should probably start immediately investing in extra absorbent undies, because it's not going to go well for you. Not at all.) And on that level, I'm kind of looking forward to seeing how she plays the character.
It's just ... well, on more that one occasion, as part of the way she lets people know who they're dealing with, Waller has described herself as "that fat black woman". Or words to that effect. Her size is really a core part of the character, in a way that's both surprising, and surprisingly effective. And that aspect will completely go away with Bassett, unless they put her in a fat suit, and I really can't see them doing that.
(For what it's worth, I'm kind of scratching my head and wondering what on earth Waller would be doing in a Green Lantern movie in the first place, especially since I've heard that it's at least partly a Hal Jordan origin movie, and she had no place in that story originally. But that's sort of a side issue.)
Pam Grier is playing Waller in several episodes of Smallville this season. That strikes me as slightly closer to accurate casting -- Grier isn't notably heavy, but she is curvaceous in a way that gets emphasized by the camera. Plus, again, perfectly capable of acting the hell out of that role.
Regardless, it will be interesting to see what Bassett does with the role -- and what the character winds up doing in Jordan's origin story, and how she makes his life miserable. Because she will. She's just that good at being bad.